Expectations
by FavouriteBanshee
Summary: Kyōya must surpass his older brothers to be considered the family successor. Tomomi's family don't approve of her aspirations to become an artist. They must both meet certain expectations at the cost of their own happiness.
1. Underestimated

**Hello! I hope you like this story, it's my first attempt at a story involving romance. So far, I plan to write omnisciently about Kyōya and Tomomi rather than focus primarily on Tomomi because she is the OC. Please tell me how I'm doing so far, I'd really appreciate any advice you have to offer to ensure it doesn't turn into a cliché mess. Please raise the alarm if you believe Tomomi is also becoming too sueish because I really like to work extensively on character development. I hope that you enjoy this story as much as possible if it begins to progress. **

**-** _FavouriteBanshee_

* * *

Kyōya always scored well in Physics.

It was a subject he took pride in. His fascination with the formulae and the problems themselves had benefitted him as he flew through the course while remaining the highest scoring student of his class. Despite having impressive results in this subject, he received little praise from his father, as usual. His brothers had excelled in Biology and Chemistry; they were on the road to successful careers in medicine. He often felt his father disapproved of his choice, feeling it was unnecessary to the future career he was pushed to obtain.

Sometimes when he'd receive his astounding test results, Kyōya would try to imagine his father giving the smallest hint he acknowledged his achievement, but this would never happen. He rarely had the privilege of his presence to begin with and even when he did, his good grades were nothing compared to his older brothers latest triumphs.

Nevertheless, Kyōya remained hard working and studious, still regarding his efforts in this subject as significant. On occasion he allowed his attention to slip only a little as he studied his classmates. He never really took 'notice' of anyone, he merely made himself aware. He didn't care for them, but felt it was useful for any future incidents. Kyōya preferred to squash any potential threat immediately. So he conversed with almost everyone at some point, he even tutored the odd one now and then if he felt he had something to gain. He just had to make sure they knew it was his place at the top.

In this classroom, Kyōya felt the most superior as well as feeling a little vulnerable on the inside. He had a minuscule worry that someone would snatch his place at the top from him, leaving him in second or third place, once again. He never allowed this thought to develop into a genuine fear because he had confidence in himself to be the best; no one could match his knowledge from excessive studying.

Then it happened.

Kyōya calmly walked down the corridor towards the crowd of his classmates. Some buried their head in their hands speaking of how their parents would strongly disapprove, others gave smiles of relief of when they explained they had scored 'OK' , and the rest beamed in joy as they happily declared their result.

Kyōya felt there must be something fascinating about these particular results- everybody's eyes remained glued to the wall. Students usually scurried off after seeing their mark, though this time, something was different. Some eyes darted to Kyōya's, then returned to the sheet tacked onto the wall. A group of girls began speaking in hushed voices as they double checked what they had seen.

He manoeuvred around the crowd gathering as he spotted his name at the top.

**Ootari Kyōya 97%**

He felt somewhat proud despite aiming for 100 and continued to let his eyes wonder, until it stung him.

**Inoue Tomomi 97%**

No time before this had he tied with someone in anything.

Kyōya had either outdone or was outdone by another. It was _never_ the in between.

_Who was this Inoue again? _

'Inoue-san, no way! How'd you do so well?'

His gaze eventually met the girl in question.

_Oh her._

Kyōya never really had spoken to her. She had preferred her own company and was initially of little interest. They had only tolerated one another's existence without befriending or antagonizing one another.

She would now have a permanent place on his radar. Kyōya vowed in that moment he would never allow himself to tie with anyone ever again. He _was_ the best. What was different now?

Kyōya walked towards the girl who had yet to entertain the others with a response. He stopped in front of her and the chatter ceased.

He gave a charming smile before breaking the uncomfortable silence.

'Inoue-san, right?'

She pulled her book even closer to her chest as she stared at him quizzically; almost as if she were examining him thoroughly.

_Almost as if she perceived him as a threat._

This was until her glare softened and Inoue gave a brief nod.

Kyōya quickly took this as a sign he wouldn't get a verbal response. His smile dissolved as he eyed her carefully; trying to understand her true intentions. He adjusted his glasses then began to walk away.

'Well done.' he simply said.

And the chatter resumed.


	2. Distracted

_Hello and apologies for the slight delay. I hope this chapter helps to build up to greater things. Any feedback at all will be most helpful at this stage - many thanks for the kind words so far. _

**_Banshee_**

* * *

When Kyōya spent time at the host club, he often found himself observing Haruhi's routine. He wouldn't openly admit it, but he was well aware he had grown quite fond of her during the time they had spent together.

Haruhi was different.

She never seemed to have any selfish motives fuelling her actions. She never seemed to have a hidden agenda. She seemed genuine. A quality Kyōya seldom came across in a person these days.

She was able to read him better than most, knowing how he truly felt. It was enough to amaze Kyōya; that someone finally seen through his well formed mask. Haruhi could read him well despite not fully understanding his motives.

The only thing that irked him slightly was that he couldn't read her in the same way. He'd researched her thoroughly. He knew almost everything about her past from a background check; Her late mother, her father – who he had befriended, her previous school, her former friends and classmates as well as her address and other little facts he kept to himself.

He knew the most about her yet struggled to understand why she was this way. Haruhi was one of a kind and perhaps that meant he would never understand her.

Nevertheless, the moments Kyōya observed Haruhi acted as a pleasant distraction for a little while.

At this particular time, he had taken a short break to watch the customers obliviously fawn over her before resuming his duties. There was a constant irritation at the back of Kyōya's mind. The sight of Haruhi had eased this irritation somewhat, though it still lingered and continued to taunt him.

He struggled to understand why Inoue still bothered him. It may have been the fact that he had underestimated her and suddenly she was his equal in a subject he had planned to excel in. If not, it was probably how she refrained from interaction with most; as if she thought of herself as _superior_ to them.

Superior to _him_.

_Maybe so_.

However, Kyōya had never let such a type bother him. He was used to arrogance. He could tolerate arrogance to a certain extent.

But something was off about Inoue. Something that continued to forcibly grasp his curiosity and attention. He didn't dislike her, but he wasn't in a hurry to befriend her. After much consideration he decided to perform a detailed background check on her. Kyōya felt it may shed some light on _who_ she actually was, and confirm wether he should truly feel threatened by her. He hoped it would ease his mind; he wanted to push her far from his thoughts to make it easier for him to focus on more the more important things.

He had managed to get his hands on a copy of her school record through Tamaki, casually ask others about her and even tried to research her on the internet.

From the information he was able to obtain he found little about her; things he already he knew.

He knew that her father was Inoue Yoshi, chief executive of the Taishi toy company his family had founded a few generations ago. He also knew that her mother, Takada Akiko was an actress who was initially part of an advertising campaign for his company before they began a relationship.

So Inoue came from big money, but her family was still not as great as his. The Ootari family managed a healthcare zaibatsu. A mere Toy company didn't pose as much of a threat.

Her mother on the other hand, had became increasingly popular recently with a couple of major roles in some movies as well as an overrated drama series that his sister Fuyumi loved.

Still not a threat.

Kyōya's frustration only grew.

There was no real information about Inoue Tomomi herself; her school record was extremely vague and others only knew her name because they linked it to her parents.

She was a member of the school Art club.

That was it.

No dirt.

No fascinating secrets.

Practically nothing.

Kyōya truly felt like he had wasted valuable time and effort without gaining anything.

He was extremely disappointed... almost angry.

The lingering notion that something wasn't quite right returned to him. It felt like a lead cloud had formed above his head. The cloud continued to weigh on his mind distract him, eventually putting him in a fowl mood. He felt even worse.

_Why did he suspect there was something more?_

Kyōya's fingers loosely touched his jaw while he scanned the record one last time. Within a moment, he slammed his hand against the desk.

_What a waste of time._

He noticed a few questioning stares as he closed the file and stood with it tucked safely under his arm.

'Sorry about that, German can be really hard at times.' He gave the guests a reassuring smile which they returned eagerly and resumed afternoon tea with the other hosts.

As he turned to leave he caught Tamaki's eyes and said to no one in particular, 'I'm going to make preparations for the party.'

Tamaki absently nodded, watching as he left. He sensed something was bothering his good friend and so he allowed Kyōya to escape for a while to clear his head.

'Is Kyōya-sempai okay?' asked Haruhi, also realising something was wrong.

'I think he just needs time out. He overworks himself to the point where it begins to take a toll on him. Even now he's off to finish organising the Spring party.' Tamaki's excuse earned a chorus of _aw's_ in the group of girls surrounding him.

The overly dramatic tone and stance Tamaki adopted was enough to make Haruhi become even more sceptical, but she played along, 'Wow, he must really care about the club.'

* * *

Tomomi had only two genuine friends at Ouran Academy. She had never been that sociable and almost never felt like she had to maintain a façade. She found the masks people wore intriguing as well as repulsive at times. People wore them to impress their parents, hide their true parasitic natures or simply for their own entertainment. She had wished for a long time to tell them apart.

Tomomi barely saw glimpses of the real them, but then again she merely observed them without much thought. She was never the best at analysing people. She was very much a day dreamer, in her own little world of peace.

Nao had always let Tomomi be when she entered her own world, but felt this child like tendency was another reason that proved she was too naïve to face the people around her. She was far too easy to exploit.

Nao had first met her when her father had persuaded to go to a birthday party held in the large Inoue household. Their fathers had been friends in high school and had reconciled when they discovered their daughters would attend Ouran together. Outings between the Takagawa and Inoue family became common after this reunion. The daughter of Inoue-san had struck Nao as somewhat odd but likeable in way Nao couldn't describe.

When they had eventually became close friends at the end of second year, Nao felt she had to repay her loyal friend by looking out for her in the presence of potential exploiters. Especially Miyake-san; she was aware Tomomi had formed a crush on him despite countless warnings of his manipulative nature. Nao could only hope the girl's shyness would prevent her from interacting with his kind.

Nao's mind was taken away from matters involving Tomo-chan when Ootari Kyōya stood tall above her. Fora asplit second Nao felt his form had never looked this intimidating; his usual cheerful demeanour drained and dull. Ootari-san's fresh smile offered her a little reassurance. It was only then she noticed that the vast library seemed deserted, and couldn't help but feel slightly concerned by the presence of her classmate.

'Excuse me, but are you Takagawa Nao?' He finally spoke in his calm voice.


End file.
